It’s important to tell your doctors if you smoke, Foulds and other experts say.

“You should let your dentist know if you smoke because he or she can take special care to evaluate you for tongue, head and neck cancers,” said Dr. Alexis Reedy-Cooper, a family medicine doctor at Penn State’s Medical Center. “Dentists are often the first to detect those.”

Smokers also endanger others. Children in homes with a smoker are at increased risk for asthma, ear infections and lung infections. Pregnant women who smoke put their unborn child at risk for complications and premature delivery, Foulds pointed out.

“It’s not a question of whether [smokers] should quit — it is critical that they quit,” Foulds said. “Smoking is a risk factor for so many things that it doesn’t make sense to wait.”

Doctors should talk to patients who smoke about the health benefits of quitting, Foulds and Reedy-Cooper said. They can help them quit through methods such as medication and counseling.

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